Today, September 26, 2013, is World Contraception Day, a day to raise our voices to advocate for a world where every pregnancy is wanted, and to empower women and girls to make informed decisions on sexual and reproductive health.

Growing evidence supports that family planning services and supplies have numerous benefits for women and their communities, yet around the world 222 million women experience an unmet need for contraception, meaning that they want to plan or space their births but lack access to modern contraception. That’s more than the entire population of Germany, Spain, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands combined.

Planned Parenthood Global, the international arm of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, has seen up close what this means in real women’s lives, as have I.